ATLANTA – Former Georgia State pitcher Tyler Claburn has signed to play baseball professionally with the Baltimore Orioles organization. Claburn becomes the 12th Panther to sign a professional contract in the past three years.

“I found out Thanksgiving morning that they had the intention of offering me and I signed two days later,” said Claburn. “It was a great experience to get the call and it was a little shocking to get called when I did but it’s great to know that I’ll be playing again. It’s a blessing. The family was just as surprised as I was but they’re really excited for me.”

“Every college program wants to see its players get a chance to play professionally,” said GSU head coach Greg Frady. “I couldn’t be happier for Tyler (Claburn). He improved every year that he was here and his dedication to improving as a player has really shown through. He has physical size, a great arm, a 92-mile an hour fastball, a great breaking ball, and if he can use those tools he’ll be a success in professional baseball. He always brought a great work ethic when he was here,” said Frady. “He was a perfectionist and everyone recognized that. When he got the ball on the weekends he always wanted to put us in a position to win and we had a lot of confidence in him as a pitcher.”

Claburn, who graduated from GSU in May of 2012 with a 3.8 GPA, went 4-3 in 19 appearances in his senior season as a Panther. The right-handed hurler from Peachtree City, Ga. attended Starr’s Mill High School and Wallace Community College before coming to GSU. He struck out 25 batters in just over 45 innings in 2012 and in his two seasons as a Panther he appeared in 29 games with five starts and 55 total innings pitched.

Claburn excelled in the classroom, earning Dean's List honors and was named Best Overall Chemistry Undergraduate Student in April of 2012.

After graduating from GSU, Claburn spent this past summer playing for the Brookhaven Bucks in the Sunbelt League under the management of former Panther and current GSU director of baseball operations Nick Hogan. While with the Bucks he posted a 3.17 ERA in 17 innings of action.

Claburn credits the coaching staff at GSU with preparing him for the pros.

“I had a great coaching staff at GSU,” said Clayburn. “I improved as a player each season that I played at GSU and the contacts I made really helped me. What really got things in motion was the GSU staff sending me to the Valley League in Virginia during the offseason. I made some great contacts there.”

It was at a tryout for the Arizona Diamondbacks that led to Claburn being signed by the Orioles.

“Jon Benick, my coach in the Virginia league, put me in contact with the Diamondbacks and I was invited to their tryouts in late September. It turns out that one of the scouts for the Diamondbacks moved to the Orioles and that’s how I was able to get picked up by them,” said Claburn.

After signing with Baltimore the former Panther will prepare to report to spring training in Sarasota, Fla. in March.

“I might go down a few weeks early and work with (former Panther coach) Jason Arnold just to get ready for spring training,” said Claburn.

For more information on Georgia State baseball visit GeorgiaStateSports.com.